Well, that’s easy. I’ve been a book junkie since childhood, so I’d probably be working part time at a local public library or at least volunteering there. And to paraphrase an old proverb: You can take the librarian out of the library, but… Well, you get it. I still visit the library to check out books for writing research, as well as for some pleasure reading. And if I weren’t writing, I might have time for more reading. My to read list is ridiculously long.

Reading Dog, dreamstime.com license

Last year I joined the local branch of AAUW, the American Association of University Women, and was immediately roped into doing publicity for them. If I weren’t working, I would happily avail myself of all the wonderful interest groups they have. As it is, I’m enjoying the International Interests group that studies foreign policy issues. Here a link to the AAUW branches, in case anyone is interested. It’s a wonderful organization with lots of lovely, intelligent women. I might learn to play Mah-Jong or brush up on my high school Spanish.

And of course, I would travel, as often as I could afford and manage. I have quite a wish list of places I’d like to see before I die.

And soon I’ll have this adorable little distraction underfoot. My niece and I were just approved to adopt a small female puppy. Is she cute or what?

What about you? What would you do if you had more time and enough money?

The #MFRWAuthor 52-week Blog Challenge is back for 2018, and this week’s question is what is the “Favorite thing I’ve written, and why”. Yikes, asking an author this question is like asking a parent which is your favorite child.

That isn’t to say that we authors don’t have favorites among our book babies. For instance, Tova’s Dragon really is my favorite of all the novellas I’ve written. That story was a gift from the muse that came to me in the middle of the night. Luckily, I had the good sense to crawl out of bed, go into the living room, grab a pencil and yellow pad, and write it down. There’s no trusting middle-of-the-night memory!

As for my three historical novels, each one is special in one way or the other.

Rogue’s Hostage starts in Western Pennsylvania where I grew up, and ends in old Quebec, a favorite destination I traveled to with my DH. It’s also my first historical romance novel, the one that wouldn’t leave me until I’d finally sold it. It took me three years to research and write the book, and nine years to sell it. But Jacques and Mara just would not let me rest until their book saw the light of day!

Lady Elinor’s Escape, my sweet Regency romance, is special because I fell in love with the Regency subgenre, but hadn’t thought I could summon the voice. When I discovered that I could do so, I happily wrote a reverse Cinderella story set in one of my favorite cities in the whole world: London. In 2003, and again in 2015, I had the opportunity to visit London and see some of the places where Lady Elinor and her hero Stephen Chaplin lived and loved. I’m hoping to add some sequels to Elinor and Stephen’s story, though when I’ll find the time, I do not know!

My Western romance, Lily and the Gambler, also holds a special place in my heart because the idea came to me when my husband and I traveled to California’s Gold Country. I fell in love with the area around Grass Valley, which has a large Cornish population. Back in the 1850’s, Cornish miners were brought in to work the gold mines, which were deep vein mining, meaning they had to tunnel under ground. The Cornish had lots of experience tunneling down to mine tin, and the mines were played out. My Cornish heroine was born, as was the carefree gambler who tries to steal her heart.

I participated in the blog challenge sporadically last year, and I make no promises that I will manage 52 weekly Friday blogs this year. If things go as planned, there will be weeks I’m off traveling, and I know there will be weeks when I’m simply to busy to squeeze in another blog. All I can say is I’ll do my best in the challenge as I make the jump from 2017 to 2018.

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